OP, STAY AWAY FROM ATN...
Now that's out of the way, Grab a cocktail and I'll get started on trying to help. People are often surprised by my approach but I've used and sold this stuff for many years and I promise there's a method to my madness...
You already covered some of my usual first questions.
1) You have access to a place to hunt regularly
2) You know your most likely ranges
3) Based on the picture I assume you will mostly be hunting over feeders of known distance.
Here's the other things you should consider:
4) Have you done much hunting at night in the past?
If yes, do you enjoy it enough you'll go regularly?
If no, I suggest you really consider if you'll enjoy sitting in the woods at night alone - For lots of folks that answer ends up being "No". You then have 3 choices - Give up night hunting, find a buddy who has their own gear, Buy a second setup so you can invite a friend.
Believe it or not, a large number of my clients end up going with option 3.
Do you have kids you'll take with you? If yes, you'll want a second rig or at least consider a model with an app so the non-shooter can see what's going on.
Once you've considered all of that and decide you aren't sure its for you, save your budget and start with a digital NV scope. If you enjoy it, graduate to thermal and use the NV as your buddy rig... If you considernit all and decide you are ready to move forward, lets talk what to buy.
Most buyers who buy entry grade thermal end up with buyers remorse. Sure, you can trade it in and buy better but the %lost is greater than driving a new truck off the lot. Worse yet, going back to above, a scope sitting in your safe unused is a bad invesent. Doesnt matter if it was 2K or 10K.
For the distance you are talking, you dont need the best there is. But... Almost everytime buyers who really enjoy it start seeking additional places to hunt and quickly need better picture and ranging capabilities. So, holding offbuntil your budget will allow you to purchase at least midgrade thermal is always a sound decision.
Here's my opinion based on experience.
ATN is a horrible company. Some people have devices that are solid but historically when you need help they are tough to deal with. You'll find some people who have had great experiences but its an averages game. Follow some of the forums andnpay attention to how many report bad experiences for each good experience reported.
Pulsar makes good products and is a reputable company. They struggled with rapid market share growth for a few years but have it under control now. They are the first manufacturer I sold and are still my go-to in a lot of cases.
IRAY makes good products. Price point is generally better than Pulsar of comperable model and warranty is better on paper. They have a 5 day guaranteed turn around on warranty. I know of 3 cases where stuff was sent in for warranty and they met the 5 day window on all of them. Their picture quality is better than Pulsar and others of comperable quality.
The rattler, hogster, etc are decent but you'll likely end up wanting more.
Trijicon and Nvision are top quality but well outside your budget.
If you are still with me this far, let me e plain why pople get buyer's remorse. If you had an analog TV growing up, it was great but as soon as your buddy's family got a digital TV you wanted one because you now had something to compare. Along came High Def digital and all of the sudden standard digital wasn't good enough. So for years, you were content with analog TV. Now you have High Def digital. Would you ever go back to analog??
Low res, mid res, high res thermal is similar compare and contrast
If I havent completely confused you, hit me with your follow up questions.
